Act Well Thy Part

Because I've had so many lessons over the years, it's not often that I actually hear something new. I've heard the "act well thy part" story taught by President McKay many, many times. However, today's lesson added some new information about the drawings included on the stone near Stirling Castle in Scotland he saw during his mission that help to shed greater light onto the importance of that saying. I thought you might like to be edified as well!

Each symbol in the nine squares of this stone represents a numerical value. Try to identify the numerical value of each shape.

What is the sum of the three numbers represented in the top row? the middle row? the bottom row?

From left to right, the symbols represent 5, 10, and 3 in the top row; 4, 6, and 8 in the middle row; and 9, 2, and 7 in the bottom row.

The numbers represented in any given row, column, or diagonal line on this stone add up to 18. One reason these shapes may have been included with the phrase “What-E’er Thou Art Act Well Thy Part” is that if any of these shapes were rearranged or if their values changed, the rows and columns on the stone would no longer add up to 18 in every direction.

Isn't that cool? Each one of us is important!